HSK 6 · Emotions

迫不及待 pòbùjídài “too impatient to wait” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 迫不及待 means

  1. too impatient to wait
  2. eager
  3. (idiom) unable to hold oneself back
  4. eager to do sth without delay

How to say 迫不及待

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale迫pò4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale不bù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale及jí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale待dài4th tone, falling

迫不及待 in a sentence

  1. 他迫不及待地想要知道结果。

    Tā pòbùjídài de xiǎng yào zhīdao jiéguǒ.

    He can’t wait to find out the result.

    Sentence #418749 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他迫不及待地想试一下他的新冲浪板。

    Tā pòbùjídài de xiǎng shì yíxià tā de xīn chōnglàngbǎn.

    He couldn’t wait to try out his new surfboard.

    Sentence #1990184 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 迫不及待 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 迫 (pò) with each of its parts in a different colour
迫pòto persecute
  • 白white · báiSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 白 (bái) hints at the sound. Compare it with pò.

The character 不 (bù) drawn as one shape
不bùno; not so

不 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidPicture a bar 一 across the top that nothing below can get past: not, no.

The character 及 (jí) drawn as one shape
及jíand

及 is a single shape of 3 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 待 (dài) with each of its parts in a different colour
待dàito wait
  • 彳step · chì
  • 寺court · sì

How to write 迫不及待

迫 8 strokes · 不 4 strokes · 及 3 strokes · 待 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

迫不及待 (pòbùjídài) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 迫不及待 (pòbùjídài). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 迫不及待

Words with 迫

迫切pòqiè · urgent逼迫bīpò · to force强迫qiǎngpò · to force紧迫jǐnpò · urgent迫害pòhài · to persecute压迫yāpò · to oppress

Words with 不

不bù · no不要bùyào · don’t!不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome对不起duìbuqǐ · sorry不错bùcuò · not bad不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed不但búdàn · not only不同bùtóng · different不少bùshǎo · quite a few不见bújiàn · to be missing

Words with 及

及时jíshí · timely来不及láibují · not enough time (to do something)来得及láidejí · to have enough time及格jígé · to pass an exam or a test以及yǐjí · and及早jízǎo · as early as possible普及pǔjí · to popularise涉及shèjí · to involve力所能及lìsuǒnéngjí · within one’s ability

Words with 待

待dāi · to stay接待jiēdài · to receive (visitors or guests)等待děngdài · to wait对待duìdài · to treat招待zhāodài · to hold a reception期待qīdài · to look forward to待遇dàiyù · treatment看待kàndài · to regard款待kuǎndài · to entertain (guests)亏待kuīdài · to treat unfairly

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

蔑视mièshì · to despise纳闷儿nàmènr · to feel puzzled难堪nánkān · embarrassed恼火nǎohuǒ · annoyed魄力pòlì · boldness气概qìgài · spirit凄凉qīliáng · desolate钦佩qīnpèi · to admire

FAQs

迫不及待 (pòbùjídài) means “too impatient to wait” or “eager”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it pòbùjídài: pò with a 4th tone, then bù with a 4th tone, then jí with a 2nd tone, then dài with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 迫不及待 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type pobujidai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 迫不及待 from the suggestions. Typing pobujidai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
迫不及待 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.